This invention relates generally to a peanut combine and more particularly to a straw separator system for such a combine. Peanuts grow underground and are attached to the roots of vines which are above the ground. A peanut crop is harvested by digging peanut laden vines from the ground, shaking as much dirt as possible from the roots, without detaching the peanuts and laying the peanuts on the ground in the windrows to dry. Digging machines place two rows in a single windrow, and the digger may be followed in a few hours by a side delivery rake which places two or three windrows into a single windrow. One commercially successful digger-shaker apparatus is described and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,720. After some drying in the fields, the peanut laden vines are picked up from the windrow and thrashed by a combine to separate the peanuts from the vines.
The character of peanut vines varies pronouncedly with the moisture content therein. When the vines are dry, they may be readily broken with a force of several ounces. When the vines are damp or when moisture is present, several pounds of force are required to break the vines. In threshing peanuts, the moisture content of the vines being supplied to the machine for separation of the peanuts varies over a wide range. In one area of a field where soil is light and vines are small, rapid drying occurs so the vines have a low moisture content. In other areas of the same field where the soil is heavier or in shaded areas or when the humidity is high, drying takes place at a much slower rate so the vines have a relatively high moisture content. Accordingly, in any windrow or area during the operation of the peanut combine, a wide variation of moisture conditions may be encountered. The volume of the vines in any given windrow varies when the vines are fed into a peanut picking machine, and the volume varies along with the moisture content of the vines. Peanut harvesting conditions additionally vary between different areas of the country. Climate conditions are relatively humid and cool in Virginia at peanut harvesting time, and very little wind blows except during a rainstorm. Heavy dew forms a night, and it is seldom that rain does not fall in a 5-day period. Peanuts are usually harvested within 10 days after they are dug. In contrast, climate conditions are relatively dry and hot in South Texas when peanuts are harvested. Skies are usually clear in general, but hot and dry and winds blow consistently. Little, if any, dew forms at night, and no light showers or rain falls on most windrows between the time peanuts are dug and when they are combined. In Virginia, ideal harvesting time is usually 7 days after digging, when under average weather conditions, normal average 20% moisture, vine juices and moisture have been absorbed or dried up, and vines are firm but not too tough to be torn apart without causing excessive peanut shelling. In contrast, in South Texas most peanuts are harvested when moisture content is around 5%, and vines are dry and brittle. The peanut combine is used to perform the operations of removing the windrows of peanut vines from the ground, picking the peanuts from the peanut vines, separating the peanuts from the peanut vines and bringing in the windrows, cleaning the peanuts and cutting the stems from the peanuts. This is accomplished by a header which removes the windrows from the ground, a picking cylinder which thrashes and transports the vines and a separator cylinder for removing the peanuts from the vine laden peanuts. Both the picking cylinder and the separator cylinder employ fingers for carrying the vines laden with peanuts. The angle which the tip of fingers make with respect to the path the fingers travel is a measure of the aggressiveness of the operation of the combine.